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Frequently asked questions - litter prevention action plans

What is a Litter Prevention Action Plan?

A commitment by an organisation to take action to help prevent litter & flytipping.

The aim of a Litter Prevention Action Plan is to enable organisations and communities to take collective action to prevent litter and flytipping by tackling the problem before it occurs. Once complete, your action plan will feed into development of a wider Community Litter Prevention Action Plan aimed at reducing litter in your local area.

What is a Community Litter Prevention Action Plan?

By creating Litter Prevention Action Plans, individual organisations can identify the most appropriate steps that they can take to help reduce litter, and by feeding into Community level plans, it will be possible to make more effective use of resources, identify “gaps” in activities being undertaken, and maximise the impact of everyone’s efforts.

The Community Litter Prevention Action Plan will bring together different stakeholders with similar agendas and help them to tackle litter and flytipping in partnership. Litter and flytipping cannot be effectively tackled by individual organisations in isolation - it requires a collaborative approach to have a high impact and visible, sustainable action.

Community Plans will be developed at local authority level to balance the need for different plans in different parts of Scotland with the need for a “critical mass” of organisations with individual Litter Prevention Action Plans in each area. This will help to ensure that Community Litter Prevention Action Plans are relevant, result in a positive impact and deliver a consistent message.

Who can create an Action Plan?

All organisations, no matter their size or sector, can be involved in helping to prevent litter. We are currently working with schools, housing providers, quick service restaurants / fast food outlets, manufacturers, community groups, retailers / supermarkets, trade bodies / member associations and local authorities to help them develop Litter Prevention Action Plans.

Prevention requires long term behaviour change and this can be supported by influencing members, staff and customers. This is something which all types of organisations across a range of sectors can be involved in, not just large businesses or organisations who clean up litter and flytipping.